big rock - clang!

[CovKid]

Not really a wheels thing as there was a fair bit of hammering involved, but while I was away in the Welsh hills I clouted a dirty great big rock, bending the rim by a good 4" (trust me it was bad). The tyre deflated immediately. 10 mins later, Hakuna Matata and I had the wheel off and the spare was on. When we finally got to our destination and I managed to look at the wheel it seemed totally unservicable but I thought what the heck and got the lump hammer out! I managed to get it to what I felt was at least close to what it was. The tyre (which was brand new) was ruined with a hole in the wall.

Anyway my rims are 15" steel merc rims and I was running on 195 65s. I picked up (with the assistance of Mercdoctor) 4 x 195 70s which by now is a fair departure from standard 14" tyres but I got the tyre fitter to check out my previously dented rim. He ran it on his machine and he couldn't find fault with it! Ran true. Said I'd done an excellent job considering it was by eye alone.

So, with all four 70s fitted, I decided to check the speedo accuracy half an hour ago and to my utter amazement it now reads true right up to 70mph for the first time ever. Gears now work better (1st being useful for once) and I also sit a bit higher

[corkyboy76]

Please, for G*d's sake, say you're not thinking of producing a dvd of your rimming skills?

[hakuna matata]

Please, for G*d's sake, say you're not thinking of producing a dvd of your rimming skills?

To late he,s done a video of the wheel already !! and the music he used was ( the wheels on the bus go round,and round .)
the dvd is out ,just P.M. Covkid.

neil

[CovKid]

I'm not even going near 'rimming'.

No, I was thinking that maybe 15" wheels with 70s are actually more suited. I know that on 14" 185s or whatever they were, my speedo was WAY off. Mind you, the inaccuracy could run the other way I suppose (hence the margin) so that at 30mph I'm doing 35mph or more. In any event, the gap above the wheels in my arches is still cavernous and with the original springs which is why I've gradually been increasing the size of the tyre so it looks right. Quite a pleasure to drive now as gears, speedo, all seem right for once. I did check it over several miles using GPS.

[protexblue]

Hi covkid

185x80x14 overall diameter 647mm
185x82x14..... 654mm
195x70x15 .... 654mm
195x65x15..... 634mm

Amazing what a difference of 5% makes on the 195's